When you call, identify yourself as a person of faith with strong ties to partners in Puerto Rico. Tell your member of Congress not to pass the current control board legislation. Urge the instead to support legislation that includes the following:

very strong debt restructuring tools

clear targets to reduce child poverty

solutions that respect local democracy

strong budget transparency provisions

Take Action! Call your Member of Congress to tell them any debt relief legislation should protect rather than punish the people of Puerto Rico

Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your House Representative and ask to speak with the legislative director at (202) 224-3121. - See more at: http://www.jubileeusa.org/ourwork/truth-about-debt/act-for-puerto-rico.html#sthash.6PI6AU1Q.dpuf

Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your House Representative and ask to speak with the legislative director at (202) 224-3121. - See more at: http://www.jubileeusa.org/ourwork/truth-about-debt/act-for-puerto-rico.html#sthash.6PI6AU1Q.dpuf

Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your House Representative and ask to speak with the legislative director at (202) 224-3121. - See more at: http://www.jubileeusa.org/ourwork/truth-about-debt/act-for-puerto-rico.html#sthash.6PI6AU1Q.dpuf

Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your House Representative and ask to speak with the legislative director at (202) 224-3121. - See more at: http://www.jubileeusa.org/ourwork/truth-about-debt/act-for-puerto-rico.html#sthash.6PI6AU1Q.dpuf

Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your House Representative and ask to speak with the legislative director at (202) 224-3121. Speak to them or leave a strong message urging them to support Puerto Rico legislation that has very strong tools to restructure the debt and includes specific solutions that reduce child poverty on the island.‎ - See more at: http://www.jubileeusa.org/ourwork/truth-about-debt/act-for-puerto-rico.html#sthash.6PI6AU1Q.dpuf

Congress is debating legislation that would place Puerto Rico under a restrictive Fiscal Control Board that would do more to ensure funds are used to repay creditors than to provide essential services to the people of Puerto Rico. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for the office of your Representative in the House. Tell them you support an agreement for Puerto Rico that allows them fairly and fully to restructure their debt and prioritizes a plan to meet basic social service needs on the island.

Puerto Rico civil society organizations and religious leaders, including Global Ministries' partners, have rejected the proposed legislation, and especially the Fiscal Control Board that they claim undermines their rule of law and establishes a neo-colonial model of administration.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its 3.5 million U.S. citizens are facing a humanitarian crisis. Nearly 50% of the island lives in poverty and nearly 10% have left for the U.S. mainland. More than 100 schools closed in 2015 as the government has made austerity budget cuts in order to pay its debt obligations. As the Centers for Disease Control warns of the threat of a Zika virus epidemic on the island, it is urgent that funding for health care and community services are a priority.

Tell your member of Congress not to pass the current control board legislation. Urge them to support a bill that respects the rights and economic security of Puerto Ricans, that provides adequate debt restructuring tools so that the government does not remain in long-term debt bondage, and that ensures the well-being of the people, and especially the poor, on the island.